Week in review: Maye's grit not enough as Bears end Patriots' win streak

The Patriots' three-game win streak ended Thursday night at Soldier Field, where Caleb Williams and the Bears beat Drake Maye and the Patriots 30-24 on Thursday Night Football. New England fell to 4-3. Chicago improved to 5-2. The loss came four days after an uneven 26-19 win over the Jets, a week dominated by A.J. Brown's rough return, Mike Vrabel's blunt words on turnovers and the latest chapter of the Maye-Williams debate. Here's the week's reaction from the Greg Hill Show, Jones & Keefe, Rich & Ken w/ Ted Johnson and the 6 Rings Postgame Show, followed by the bigger stories from before kickoff.

Bears 30, Patriots 24: How it happened

Chicago scored on its first two possessions, a Cairo Santos field goal and a 4-yard D'Andre Swift touchdown run, to go up 10-0 after one quarter. Maye answered with a 7-yard touchdown run, but the Bears pushed the lead to 20-7 on another Santos field goal and a 24-yard touchdown pass from Williams to Luther Burden III with 14 seconds left in the half.

The Patriots needed only two plays to answer. Maye hit Rhamondre Stevenson on a screen, and the running back took it 48 yards for a touchdown as time expired in the first half. After Williams found Colston Loveland for a 12-yard score in the third quarter, Maye connected with rookie tight end Eli Raridon for a 30-yard touchdown to make it 27-21.

New England had two chances with the ball, trailing by six, to take the lead. Maye's end-zone interception on an underthrown ball meant for Raridon was a turning point. Santos then hit a 58-yard field goal with 1:34 left, and Andy Borregales' 47-yarder with 37 seconds left made it a one-score game, but that was as close as it got.

Maye kept them in it

Maye finished 24 of 31 for 321 yards and two touchdowns, and ran for another score. As Justin Turpin noted in 6 takeaways as Patriots' 3-game win streak ends in Chicago, it was his second 300-yard game in three weeks. The interception was his first turnover since Week 4.

"He gave us a chance," Vrabel said after the game. "He competed and I know he'd like to have that throw back to Eli but, I thought he really competed... I know he'd like to have that one back and he'll learn from it like he always does. I'm glad he's ours."

Maye was hard on himself. "It's frustrating," he said of the interception. "So I know that was a big turning point in the game and I know I let my team down." He added, "I got to have some answers to get the ball out and not have our guys holding up for that long."

The receivers had a quiet night. Turpin pointed out that Stevenson led the team with five catches for a career-high 93 yards, Hunter Henry added seven catches for 71 yards and Raridon had three for 56 and a score, while the wide receivers combined for seven receptions. Brown is still waiting for his breakout game in a Patriots uniform.

Tackling, penalties and explosive plays

Vrabel didn't sugarcoat the defense. "The tackling wasn't good enough, not against this team," he said. "I would say that we need to turn the ball over and tackle better and those are fundamental skills. But I like the way they competed and we certainly gave ourselves a chance."

Per Turpin, PFF's initial charting credited the Patriots with a season-high 16 missed tackles. Williams went 22 of 33 for 308 yards, and the Bears' 405 total yards were the most the Patriots have allowed under Vrabel, including the playoffs. New England was also flagged 10 times for 71 yards.

"It's a thin margin when you play good teams," Vrabel said. "We didn't get enough stops in the red zone and we didn't convert our red zone opportunity the one time, so. That's probably the difference in the game."

Meghan Ottolini wrote in Patriots squander Drake Maye's grit with self-inflicted mistakes that the better team won, but that the Patriots "are within spitting distance of where they need to be. They just have to get a little healthier, and stop tripping over their own feet." Her verdict: the loss "is no cause for a moral victory Friday," but "it was far from a harbinger of doom."

Turpin joined Rich & Ken w/ Ted Johnson on Friday to explain how the explosive plays sank the Patriots.

Justin Turpin on the explosive plays that beat the Patriots | Rich & Ken w/ Ted Johnson

Before kickoff: An ugly win over the Jets

The week started with a 26-19 win over the Jets at Gillette Stadium, the Patriots' third straight victory. They improved to 3-0 at home for the first time since 2019, but nobody was celebrating much. "We're lucky to win," Vrabel said. "But we're happy that we won. We'll enjoy it for about an hour, and then we're going to focus on the next task."

Maye threw for 235 yards and three touchdowns. Turpin noted in 7 takeaways as sloppy Patriots beat Jets for third straight win that it was his third straight game with at least three touchdown passes, the first Patriots quarterback to do that since Tom Brady in October 2014. A patched-together offensive line didn't allow a sack. Corey Kiner got the ball on eight straight carries on the final drive to close it out.

Maye also had a message for his wife after the game. "I've got to bring them more treats. Shoutout Ann Michael," he said of his offensive line.

Drake Maye on bringing the offensive line more treats

A.J. Brown's rough return

Brown's first game back from a high ankle sprain, and his first at Gillette as a Patriot, was one to forget. He was targeted 10 times and caught three passes for 27 yards with three drops. "I'm much better than what I put on display today; there are no excuses. I'll be better," Brown said.

Ottolini argued in A.J. Brown deserves patience despite disappointing return that "it's still too early to feel buyer's remorse." Maye agreed. "It was great to see A.J. back," he said on Rich & Ken w/ Ted Johnson for Patriots Monday, as Ottolini wrote in Drake Maye doubles down on A.J. Brown support after 3-drop game. "I just want to tell him I'm coming his way, and I meant that, and he knows that." The same day, the Patriots placed Romeo Doubs on injured reserve.

Boomer Esiason weighed in on Brown on the Greg Hill Show.

Vrabel: Turnovers are 'an embarrassment'

Two lost fumbles against the Jets, by TreVeyon Henderson and DeMario Douglas, set off Vrabel on his weekly Greg Hill Show appearance. "We turn the ball over at a historic rate, and it's ridiculous," he said. "It's an embarrassment." Turpin laid out the numbers behind the problem in Mike Vrabel calls out 'embarrassing' flaw in Patriots' season.

Douglas owned his mistake. "I'm sick. I'm sick, I can't lie," he said after the game.

Maye vs. Williams, and the Bears preview

With the 2024 draft's first and third picks set to meet, Maye spent part of his Patriots Monday visit with Rich & Ken w/ Ted Johnson talking about the short week and his friendship with Williams. Kevin Byard, who played two seasons in Chicago, predicted Ben Johnson would "have some tricks up his sleeve," as Ottolini wrote in Kevin Byard 'guarantees' how Ben Johnson is telling Bears to attack Patriots in Thursday Night Football clash. Turpin previewed the matchup in 3 things to watch in Patriots vs. Bears.

Around Boston

Celtics: The season opened with a 121-113 loss in Detroit on Tuesday, when the Pistons rallied from 22 points down to spoil Paul George's Celtics debut. Boston bounced back Friday in the home opener, beating the Knicks 107-103 as Jayson Tatum scored 36 points, 25 of them in the second half.

Bruins: Michael DiPietro made 28 saves for his first NHL shutout in a 6-0 win over the Predators on Hockey Fights Cancer Night at TD Garden Thursday. DiPietro lost his mother to cancer when he was five. "You couldn't really write it better," he said. More from WEEI.com: 5 takeaways from Michael DiPietro's emotional first shutout.

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Next up: Patriots at Dolphins, Sunday, Nov. 1, 4:25 p.m. on CBS.